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MEPs back data protection rules

The European Parliament’s civil liberties committee has backed ambitious plans to overhaul the European Union’s data-protection rules.

The committee voted 49 in favour and one against, with three abstentions.

The vote in Strasbourg this evening (21 October) paves the way for Jan Philipp Albrecht, a German Green MEP, to begin negotiations with the Council of Ministers and the European Commission on the final shape of the legislation.

Albrecht said: “The ball is now in the court of member state governments to agree a position and start negotiations, so we can respond to citizens’ interests and deliver an urgently-needed update of EU data protection rules without delay. EU leaders should give a clear signal to this end at this week’s summit.”

Viviane Reding, the European commissioner for justice, fundamental rights and citizenship, had pushed for the European Council later this week to call for the swift adoption of the new data protection regulation. Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council, has agreed to put the issue on the agenda of the summit, on 24-25 October.

The Parliament’s version is certain to run into opposition from various member states, and there are doubts that negotiations will be completed before next April, when the European Parliament holds its last plenary before the election.

A compromise text agreed by the Parliament’s main political groups last week contains strict provisions limiting companies’ ability to transfer European data abroad – primarily the US. The provisions received the backing of the political groups in the wake of allegations that the US had spied on Europeans.

MEPs also supported raising the penalties for non-compliance from 2% of a company’s annual global turnover to 5%.

But European Digital Rights (EDRI), an advocacy group, said the version adopted today contained “huge loopholes” on corporate profiling and on the consent from users required to process their data.

John Higgins, director of DigitalEurope, which represents digital businesses, said: “We urge member state governments to look closely at the amendments agreed in the European Parliament’s civil liberties committee on Monday before entering into negotiations with the European Parliament on a final text of the Data Protection Regulation. It is vital that Europe gets this law right.”

“There is a real risk that the drafting process will be rushed and important details will not get addressed properly,” he said. “Rushing through a half-baked law risks throwing away a vital and much needed opportunity to stimulate economic growth.”